Stencil filing cabinet



2 sheets-sheet 1 H. P. ELLIOTT sTENcIL FILING CABINET Filed May 7, 1932 wel Nov. 27, 1.934.

fnven for.

Nov. 27, 1934. H. P. ELLIOTT STENCIL FILING CABINET Filed May 7, 1952 2 sheets-sheet 2 Inve'eo'fe fff Patented Nov. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT "OFFICE- Claims.

This invention relates to stencil printing systems and particularly to a method of storing stencils against damage and impairment of utility between periods of use.

5 Routine correspondence is at the present time expedited by the use of mechanical addressing systems and apparatus, involving the use of large collections of printing devices each bearing the address of a correspondent. The particular type of printing plate with which this invention is especially concerned comprises a stencil wherein the address is cut in a stencil coating carried by a thin porous sheet that extends across the opening in a relatively stiff paper frame and is attached to said frame, the address being applied to an envelope or the like by forcing ink on thev surface of a printing roll through the address characters of the stencil. The stencils of a collection are contained in horizontal rows in trays that are so arranged that the entire contents of a tray can beintroduced as a unit into the stencil holder of an addressing machine and also returned to the tray as a unit from the used-stencil receiver of the machine.

A stencil collection is in frequent use not only for addressing purposes but also for ling purposes, it being frequently necessary to add new address-bearing stencils to the collection and to remove obsolete stencils. It is quite desirable that an operative should be able to carry out what is known as one hand iiling; that is, an operative may have in one hand a list of names that should be removed from the stencil collection and she should, with the other hand, be able to abstract such stencils from the trays and gather them in the same hand; reversely she should be able to le in the collection with one hand a bunch of stencils that she has in that hand. This could not be readily done with the former method of storing stencils since it was necessary to pull the tray out of the holder and hold it withone hand and do the ling with the otherhand, thereby rendering diilicult the reading of the list of names that indicate the positions occupied by the old or to be occupied by the new stencils. It is possible, with the old method, to withdraw a tray of stencils and place it on a table or shelf, but this means extra work for the operative and also usually requires the use of one hand to steady the tray, due to the narrow width of the bottom of the tray rendered necessary for inserting the tray full of stencils as a unit in the addressing machine. Hence an object of the present invention is a method and cabinet for storing a collection of stencils wherein the stencil trays are supported horizontally and iirmly by the cabinet in a completely withdrawn position therefrom so that the rearmost stencils of the collection in the tray are accessible and the tray is thus held so that both hands of the operative are free.

Heretofore the trays in which the .collection of stencils were contained have been stored in cabinets of which the entire front was open, the opening being closed by one, or usually two, doors. The entire front of the cabinet had to be opened to gain access to any particular tray and hence all of the trays had to be exposed, thereby inviting a free circulation of air throughout the cabinet by which dust could be carried to lodge on the stencils and introducing other undesirable factors. Since the collection of stencils is more or less in constant use and access to oneor another of the trays is continually necessary the doors of the cabinet were usually open a large part of the time so `that much of the protection intended to be given to the stencils by the cabinet was lost.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and a cabinet for storing a collection of stencils wherein access can be gained to any desired group of stencils without opening the cabinet to expose any other groups of stencils. Since an operative works only upon one tray of stencils at a time the present invention provides protection for all of the stencils almost all of the time except for the short time that a tray of stencils is exposed for ling purposes or is being run through the addressing machine. This is a Ymarked distinction ,to the former method wherein,

even though but one tray of stencils at a time was being in use, all ofthe remaining stencils were exposed and unprotected by the necessarily open doors of the cabinet. l

In carrying out these objects of the invention I have provided a storage and protective cabinet for a collection of stencils having a plurality of tray compartments, each compartment having a removable tray-carrier on which the tray is removably carried in horizontal position. The carrier is movable horizontally inwardly and outwardly of its compartment and carries its tray with it, The carrier is provided with longitudinally-spaced tray-positioning devices which define the position of the tray on the carrier; and the carrier and cabinet have cooperating means that define the extreme outward position ofthe carrier, the carrier being held from being entirely withdrawn from the cabinet. In its extreme outward position, the carrier extends horizontally l-l from the front of the cabinet; and the arrangement is such that, in such position, the tray is entirely out of its compartment or at least is so substantially out of the compartment that the rearmost stencil of the horizontal row in the tray is accessible. The carrier provides a firm horizontal support for the tray in this position, and holds the tray against lateral displacement or tilting and hence stencils can be removed from or inserted in the tray by one hand only, leaving the other hand free to hold the instruction list. The front portion of the carrier is provided with an upstanding front plate which, when the carrier is in its extreme innermost position, overlies the entrance of and forms a closure for'the compartment; hence no general closure-or :door'for all the compartments is necessary. Since .each traycarrier can be moved outwardly to gain access to the stencils in the tray carried thereby, independently of all other tray-carriers, only one compartment at a -time need be opened, and all the 'other compartments can remain closed andthe lstencils therein enclosed and protected. SuchA a Acabinet constitutes a further object of lthe vinvention.

Another object of the invention is generally to vimproveupon stencil `filing and protective systems and apparatus. y y

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of ya filing cabinet embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 -is a perspective detail illustrating a with- :drawn tray carrier and the stencil holding tray thereof.

Fig. 3 isa sectional elevation taken through the vertical axis of a stack of superposed tray compartmenlts.

Fig. 4 is a perspective detail 'illustrating the means by ywhich a carrier is supported horizontally in withdrawn position.

Fig. 5 isa partial plan View taken through one end portion :of a horizontal row of tray comparte ments.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional elevation of a carrier and tray taken along line 6 6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. '7 is a detailed side elevation of the front portion of a tray guide.

The iiling lcabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a Vbase l0, opstanding side walls l2 and a top wall 14, and means forming a plurality of tray compartments each adapted to contain a tray carrier 16, the compartments being arranged in vertical and horizontal rows .and the stencils in each compartment being accessible and capable of being withdrawn from the cabinet independently of and without exposing the stencils oi any other cornpartment. Each compartment includes a horizontal bottom plate 18, see especially Figs. 3 and 5, formed with upstanding integral lips 2D at the opposite long sides to provide a guide way for the tray carrier. The front edge portion of the plate 18 is reilexed upon its under face to form an outermost cylindrical or tubular bead 22 adapted mainly for appearance and, immediately in back oi said bead a second tubular section 24 adapted to receive between it and the body of the plate 18 a cylindrical supporting rod 26. The rear end of the plate 18has a similarly relexed end portion '28 through the tubular channel of which a second supporting rod 30 is passed. All of the plates 18 of a horizontal row have the same rods 26 and 30 passed therethrough, the ends of the rods being screw-threaded and passing through the inturned front ends 32 of the side plates 12 of the cabinet and are secured in position by nuts 34 screw-threaded on said ends thereby drawing the side plates 12 and the guide plates 18 firmly together. Vertical partition plates 36 extend across the horizontal rows of compartments, at the front and rear thereof, and are disposed between adjacent guide plates and have passages through the rear edges thereof through which the supporting rods 26 and 3D of the horizontal. rows of guide plates are passed. Said partition plates are clamped between the guide plates by the .screwing-up of the aforesaid nuts 34. The front edges of said vertical partition plates 36 are curled over to provide vertical cylindrical beads -38 that yregister with the beads 22 of the guide plates 18 and thereby outline the front edges oi the stencil compartments. The cabinet is provided with a rear wall 40 which is secured to the rearportions of certain of the guide plates and ts within the inturned rear edges 42 of the side plates l2 thereby to enclose the cabinet at the rear. The base portion l0 of the cabinet is provided with a solid bottom plate 44 which underlies the v-lov/ermost horizontal row of guide plates. Hence the side plates 12, the top plate 14, the

back plate 40 and the bottom plate-44 completely enclose the respective sides of the stencil space of the cabinet.

Each tray carrier 1'6 comprises a horizontal plate 45 having integral therewith an upturned l vertical front wall 43 which, when the carrier is completely within its compartment, occupies the space between the two adjacent vertical beads 38 and the two adjacent upper and lower guide `plates 1'8 that dene the compartment and hence forms a closure for the compartment. The front wall or plate 48 is provided with a convenient handle 50 by which the carriercanbe vmoved inwardly and outwardly of the cabinet. The front plate 48 is provided with a false inner wall coin- M5 prising a plate 52 which has a downturned Ychannel section v54 at its upper end which fits within a registering downttu'ned channel 56 formed at the top of said front plate 48. The plate 52 also has a forwardly reflexed horizontal lower por-- tion 58 that is seated upon the plate 46 and abuts against the plate 48 and is locked in position by an upstruck `projection 60 of the plate 46. The plate has its lateral edges reiiexed upwardly to form side walls or plates 62 which side walls have y turned projections that abut against the rear edges of the lguide plates 68 in the extremeoutward position of the carriers to prevent the carn riers from being removed from the cabinet and thereby dene the outermost position of the carriers.

The stencils a are contained in horizontal rows in trays 72 that are removably supported on the carriers. Each tray is formed of a single piece of sheet metal reilexed to form laterally-spaced horizontal shelves 74 on which the bottom edges of the stencils rest, upstanding side walls 76 at the sides of said shelves, and a channel 78 that is disposed between said shelves and under the stencils and is open .from end to end of the tray and is adapted to receive the blade of the stencil holder of an addressing machine by which the stencils can be removed as a unit from the tray and introduced within the holder. The tray is provided with inturned end portions 80, see especially Fig. 2, which overlie the ends oi the row of stencils and thereby retain the row against escape from the ends oi the tray. The side walls 76 of the tray extend above the side walls 62 of the carrier so that the tray can be grasped by the lingers of one hand in the manner indicated in Fig. 2, and removed from the carrier. Each carrier is provided at its rear end with an upstruck projection 82, see especially Figs. 3 and 5, which cooperates with the front plate 48 of the carrier to define the position of the tray in the carrier. The position of the tray in the carrier is such that when the carrier is in its outermost position the rearmost stencil in the tray is accessible from the front of the cabinet.

With the arrangement above described the iront plate 48 of each carrier forms a closure for its respective compartment and hence no special doors for the cabinet are needed. Since only one tray of stencils is used and exposed at a time, all other stencils remain enclosed within and protected by the cabinet. Even if one compartment should remain open for any length of time through an oversight or otherwise the area of the opening is too small to cause a draft oi air to circulate through the cabinet, since the cabinet otherwise is closed. Since the trays are removable from the carriers the entire collection of stencils in a compartment can be withdrawn by merely lifting the tray out of its carrier. Hence the introduction of stencils into and their removal from an addressing machine is expedited. Furthermore after a tray has been removed from a carrier there is much more likelihood of the operative moving the empty carrier back into and thereby closing the compartment than there was of the operative closing the large doors of the former cabinet, every time a tray of stencils was removed therefrom. The present cabinet lends itself readily to one-hand filing since the tray is supported rmly by its carrier in horizontal position in front of the cabinet with all of the stencils therein readily accessible so that an operative can, with one hand, readily insert stencils in or withdraw them from the collection in the tray.

I claim:

l. A stencil filing cabinet comprising means providing ment, a stencil-holding tray, a tray carrier movable inwardly and outwardly oi said compart-k ment and having upstanding side members between which said tray is removably positioned, and positioning members located in opposed relation with the ends of said tray for defining the lengthwise position thereof in said carrier, said tray having upstanding side walls which are higher than the side walls of said carrier so that said tray side walls can be grasped by the hand and the tray lifted out of said carrier, said carrier having an upstanding front wall which constitutes a closure for said compartment and also constitutes a positioning member and is higher than said tray.

2. A stencil iiling cabinet which is closed on all sides except at the iront where it has a series of individual compartment openings, tray-carriers a horizontally-elongated compart-V movable horizontally inwardly and outwardly of said compartments having vertical front plates which overlie their respective compartment openings and constitute closures therefor in the fully inward position of said carriers, stencil-holding trays removably positioned on said carriers and movable therewith into and out of said compartments, said trays having side walls which upstand above the tops of the carriers thereat so that said trays can be grasped by the hand and lifted off said carriers behind said iront plates, means which dene the extreme withdrawn position of said carriers and support the exposed trays therein in horizontal position exteriorly of said compartments, and means including said front plates which deiines the position of said trays on said carriers and are so disposed with respect to said carrier positioning means that when a carrier is in an extreme outward position the tray thereof is entirely out of its compartment.

3. A stencil filing cabinet having means providing a compartment having carrier guides longitudinally-extended therein, and a one-piece fabricated sheet metal tray carrier slidable on said guides inwardly and outwardly of said compartment and comprising a bottom plate resting on said guides, integral upstanding side walls and an integral upstanding front wall which occupies the entrance to said compartment and constitutes a closure therefor when said carrier is fully within said compartment, wherein the upper portion of said iront wall is formed with an inverted channel section and wherein an inner wall plate overlies and is spaced from the inner face of said wall and has at its upper edge an inverted channel section that is seated Within said first channel section and at its bottom portion has a renexed horizontal edge portion that is seated on and is connected with said bottom plate.

4. A stencil filing cabinet having means providing an open-front compartment having carrier guides longitudinally extended therein, a tray carrier slidable on said guides inwardly and outwardly of said compartment and having upstanding thin metal side walls which at the top have laterally and outwardly ofi set ledges, and members connected with said guides at the front portions thereof adjacent and beyond said carrier side walls having means providing upper inverted channels in which said ledges are slidably received whereby to cooperate with said guides in holding said carrier horizontally in its extreme outward position.

5. A stencil iiling cabinet as defined in claim 11 wherein the rear portions of the side walls of said tray carrier have inturned projections which are disposed in position to abut against said channel members and deiine the extreme outermost position of said carrier, said carrier having longitudinally spaced iront and rear abutments between which a stencil-holding tray is adapted to be removably located, said front abutment comprising an upstanding plate constituting a closure for the compartment-opening, said rear abutment being so positioned with respect to said projections that the tray is completely out of said compartment when said carrier is in its extreme outward position.

HARMON P. ELLIOTT. 

